No.4 Clifton Village — Restaurant in Bristol

My husband brought me here for Afternoon Tea as a gift.

Firstly, I would like to admit that we have pretty high standards when it comes to food, and I’ve tried to keep this rating relative to the spend.

The venue itself is quite nice. Traditional Clifton architecture set back from the main road so feels peaceful. Be mindful that this does mean that accessibility isn’t possible as there are 3 massive steps at the entrance and no rail.

My husband spoke to the receptionist who gestured at a few doors and said someone would meet us there. My husband waited a good 5-10 minutes but no-one showed up. Meanwhile I tried to let the receptionist know who was otherwise occupied on a semi-heated phone call with a Hotel guest. In the end, my husband had to go and physically find someone.

The staff were polite, albeit somewhat scarce throughout. No check backs. No offer of more drinks and we had to get up and request the bill ourselves.

Food was not the best. Sandwiches were stale with pre-sliced cheese and ham and cheap bread. Scones were nice, but not amazing. Allegedly they contained Saffron which I couldn’t taste at all, and Saffron is usually pretty potent. They seemed freshly made and a nice texture so that was a bonus. Cream was extremely thick, like hard butter! Even after leaving it for a bit, it was almost solid, but it tasted fine. The mini dessert layer was hit-and-miss. There was a vanilla and lemon pâte à Choux which was actually delicious and a white chocolate truffle which was quite tasty. There was a dark chocolate ganache truffle with a dry (not intentionally I think) slice of strawberry on top which I personally didn’t like. Lastly, there were 4 squares of what looked like Turkish delight but seemed to be squares of flavoured gelatine. I think one was meant to violet or lavender but was almost tasteless, the other tasted like a tablespoon of really really tart strawberry jam.

Lastly, I ordered Earl Grey as my tea which didn’t come with lemon. When I requested it, they gave me 2 tiny wedges on lemon (not a slice which I’m used to getting). I know this seems nit-picky, but if the main theme is tea, then a slice of lemon for Earl Grey is pretty standard.

All-in-all, I think it’s a nice little place and looks lovely for little get-togethers which were happening around us. Unfortunately the food was a big let down as was the lack of service.

I do realise it’s relatively inexpensive in comparison to many afternoon teas I have had, but for my personal preference, I would rather spend a bit more for better food and more attentive service. But...

We (a party of 6) arrived at 8.30 (our booked time) and did not get our main courses until 10.15.

The soup starters were worse than lukewarm, as were the scampi starters.

The mains menu only had four options, and 3 of us chose the chicken, but only once we were eating our starters were we told that there was no chicken left. After some further delay we gave our replacement orders, and then came the lengthy wait for our mains, while others around us who had arrived after us completed their meal before we even got our mains.

When the mains came 2 of the pork belly dishes were again worse than lukewarm.

The pasta was good, as were the puddings, and our waitress did her best in difficult circumstances.

At one stage she apologised for the delay and gave us a bottle of Prosecco, which was warm, and none of us really wanted, although we appreciated the gesture.

The bill was for the full amount, including service (total £157). We said we were only prepared to pay £100 in the circumstances, and the manager came over and suggested we could have a £40 discount, and said that we had already benefited from a discount. However, that discount was the same for all customers that night (2 courses for £10 on Tuesdays), and so we did not appreciate this attempt to make out that they had already given us money off due to the problems we had been having.

I repeated that we felt that £100 represented fair value for what was a very disappointing evening. It was our 25th wedding anniversary and we were celebrating with all our children - we rarely all get together these days. The manager then agreed to reduce the bill to £100.

We were never given any explanation for the delay, and I felt the attempt to charge us the full amount when the bill was first presented was appalling. An explanation now...

We had our wedding day at No4 and we couldn't have wished for anything better! From the offset when we first met Marie we knew we were in good hands. Her organisation on planning the day and at what points we would have meetings kept things running smoothly, reduced stress massively and made us feel reassured that when the day came it would be nothing short of perfect. We had an intimate ceremony for 22 close family and friends in the beautiful Admiral room, everyone commented on how stunning the room was and it looks so bright, airy and beautiful in our photos. Drinks and canapes in the private garden were so lovely and the kitchen was so accommodating in everything we wanted for our canapes including extra 'off menu' bits for our Nephews. The food at the wedding breakfast was incredible, presentation was second to non and the table scape that Marie and her team did was absolutely beautiful, exactly as we had pictured it. We honestly couldn't recommend No4 Clifton Village more, especially if you are looking to host a small intimate day. All our guests let us know how much they enjoyed the day and we will remember and treasure it forever! Thank you so much to Marie and all the team at No4, you were...